Lu, who had been viciously badmouthing his romantic rivals, mercilessly set the things in his hands down in front of the two of them. "If you want dinner, carry these inside."
Ji Shi ignored him and enthusiastically ran over to take the things Xie Ji was carrying, as affectionate as a young wife welcoming home her husband from military service.
"How was it? Are you tired? You've been out all day, so you must be exhausted. You spent a lot of money, didn't you? Don't worry, once I have enough points, I'll earn it all back for you."
Mu Yao picked up the things on the ground and shot him a sidelong look as he sneered, "I don't know whether you'll need dinner tonight, but Little Cake definitely won't. Those empty promises of yours are enough to choke him."
"Why are you everywhere? Do you have a problem?" Ji Shi looked impatiently at Mu Yao. "Could you go die somewhere else? I'm worried the air around you is toxic, you damn scumbag."
Mu Yao's expression darkened. "Ji Shi, are you looking for a fight?"
"What, you don't actually think I can't beat you, do you?" Ji Shi scoffed. "Young Master Mu, your reputation as a playboy precedes you. What, we're not allowed to mention it now? Weren't you pretty proud of it before?"
Xie Ji couldn't understand it. He glanced at Shang Yan, who stood in the doorway, and asked quietly, "Were those two always like this?"
Shang Yan gave Xie Ji a speechless look and pushed up the glasses on his nose. "No, they're only like this around you."
"I knew it!" Xie Ji pulled Lu Xunji over and muttered to him again. "There's definitely something weird on this island!"
Lu Xunji said, "Mm, you're right."
Shang Yan: "..."
After carrying everything into the kitchen, everyone gathered in the dining room and sank into thought as they looked at the kitchen, which had nothing in it.
"We're screwed. We only remembered to buy ingredients and forgot all about pots, bowls, and utensils." Xie Ji clicked his tongue. "We'll just have to redeem some basic ones from the points store now."
Shang Yan nodded and said, "Since we're all eating together, everyone should indeed contribute toward the kitchenware. I've calculated the prices in the points store. Buying the most basic kitchen supplies we'll need immediately will cost twenty thousand points. We can decide what to do about the rest later. How does that sound?"
No one objected.
Xie Ji looked around and realized someone was missing. "Wait, where's Zhou Heyu?"
The others hurriedly looked around them. Sure enough, Zhou Heyu was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh, right. Where is he?" Ji Shi realized. "I remember seeing him just a little while ago. How come he's gone now?"
Mu Yao folded his arms and said, "He's always like that, appearing and disappearing like some elusive dragon. Let's leave him out."
Shang Yan disagreed. "Since we're a group, it's better to let him know. Perhaps he went to the paddy fields to check on the rice. I'll go out and look for him."
Xie Ji hurried after him.
The group searched all around the courtyard residence for over ten minutes without seeing any sign of Zhou Heyu.
Mu Yao rocked back and forth in the rocking chair in front of the residence. "Stop looking. I'll cover his share, and we'll tell him when he gets back. If he doesn't agree, he can sort out his own meals... He's like a ghost all day long. Who could keep track of him?"
Zhou Heyu was quiet by nature and spoke the least among them. Even his strikingly beautiful face was more than half hidden by his overlong hair, leaving him with very little presence among a group of dazzling young masters.
At that, Shang Yan instinctively glanced at Xie Ji.
It was strange. Zhou Heyu did indeed disappear often, but whenever Xie Ji was around, he was always the first to notice his absence.
This thought once again reinforced Shang Yan's impression of Xie Ji as something like a gorgeous social butterfly, adept at working a room.
Normally, Shang Yan didn't dislike that sort of person. In business, it was often people like that who could take the world by storm.
Yet when it came to Xie Ji, he always instinctively resisted getting close. His keen businessman's intuition told him that getting close to Xie Ji was a losing proposition, with more to lose than to gain.
He, Shang Yan, never did business at a loss.
In the end, Xie Ji found Zhou Heyu crouching in the grass in a little corner behind the courtyard residence.
He went over and patted Zhou Heyu on the shoulder. "Bro, what are you doing here?"
Xie Ji was the youngest among them, so he could call any of them bro without the slightest reservation.
Zhou Heyu quickly turned his head, put his index finger to his lips, and gestured for silence.
Thinking something serious was happening, Xie Ji immediately held his breath and whispered, "What's wrong?"
Zhou Heyu carefully shifted aside.
Xie Ji saw two little animals lying in the grass.
It was too dark for him to make out what kind of animals they were. He could only vaguely tell that they were two very thin, tiny baby animals, one of which was clutching Zhou Heyu's finger and suckling on it.
Xie Ji crouched beside Zhou Heyu, squinting for a closer look, then turned his head to ask, "What kind of animals are these? They look newborn. Where's their mother?"
Too close.
Zhou Heyu's breath caught. He could feel the warmth coming from Xie Ji, unusually distinct in the summer night.
He couldn't help turning to look at Xie Ji. Though Xie Ji was asking him a question, his gaze remained on the two little animals. He reached out to pet them, but seemed afraid of disturbing the little creatures' sound sleep, and reluctantly withdrew his hand.
"They're probably puppies." As though under a spell, Zhou Heyu answered Xie Ji's question. "I don't know why they're here. I just looked around nearby, but I couldn't find a mother dog."
"Did their mother abandon them?" Xie Ji asked quietly. "Otherwise, she shouldn't be so far away from them when they're this little."
Zhou Heyu stiffened. Looking at the two tiny puppies shivering in the pile of grass, he couldn't help reaching out to gently poke their little bellies. "...Maybe. They're too weak and scrawny. It's only natural for their mother to abandon such weak little ones."
Xie Ji sucked in a breath. "Then they're really in luck! Shall we take the little ones back and raise them?"
Zhou Heyu turned to look at him. Without hesitation, Xie Ji reached out and scooped both puppies into his arms, saying cheerfully, "These two tiny things are so light. It's all right now. We'll raise them well, won't we?"
"..." Zhou Heyu was a little surprised. Xie Ji seemed completely unconcerned that their mother had abandoned the two little creatures. He didn't even show the slightest trace of pity. It was as though he wanted to raise them simply because he wanted to.
"What are you spacing out for? Come on." Xie Ji stood up with a puppy tucked under each arm, then bent down to look at Zhou Heyu, who was still crouching there in a daze. "Let's go home."
Zhou Heyu had never felt anything like it. It was as though those few short words were more than mere language, turning instead into a tiny electric current that shot through his limbs and into his heart.
"We can't," Zhou Heyu said quietly. "We can't. The others won't agree. They're dirty, and they aren't useful for anything else."
Xie Ji hurriedly gathered the puppies against his chest and covered them with his clothes. "The puppies can't hear things like that! Our puppies are plenty useful! Quick, spit three times to take it back!"
Zhou Heyu: "..."
Xie Ji said, "Hurry."
Zhou Heyu: "..."
Xie Ji said, "Never mind, I'll do it for you. Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey. The puppies didn't hear that. We're the most useful, aren't we? Come on, let's go home, let's go home..."
Zhou Heyu hesitated for two seconds before following Xie Ji.
"...Thank you."
His voice was very soft and scattered in the wind. Busy PUA-ing the puppies, Xie Ji didn't hear it.